Between a rock and a soft, squishy, place
by wolfypuppypiles
Summary: Written for two prompts sent to me on tumblr. Peter finds himself in a partially collapsed building, with a very angry alien who wants nothing more than to crush him and eat him for dinner. At least his days are never boring.


"These things are really gross, can I just web them up?" Peter frowned at the alien in front of him. It sort of looked like a very wobbly, fat version of a hairless cat, with slime oozing from every pore of it's purple, shimmery skin. It's claws were wicked sharp, and it's teeth were so long they hung out of its mouth. And they smelt terrible.

Tony grunted through the coms as he tried to deal with his own, slimy alien. "The webs slip right off them, Peter. You'll have to hit them, to get them to stop. Or, here's an idea, use that instant kill feature I gave you."

Peter dodged another swipe of the claws, jumping out of the way, and onto a nearby building.

"The instant kill kind of scares me. I'll just stick to throwing things at it, thanks."

The battle continued, as the rest of the Avengers tried to get a handle on the slippery little devils before they could mess up the rest of the city. Thankfully, they'd been able to contain them, to a largely uninhabited block of buildings that were under construction, so they didn't have to worry about civilians, but that wasn't all they should have been worrying about.

Peter followed his two aliens into a dilapidated mall, into a section that was empty and crumbling. And he'd been so focussed on the two threats, that he didn't notice how close the whole place was to coming down on top of him, until it did.

He used a web to swing off an archway, kicking one of the aliens into a wall, with a crash, but the old structure wasn't strong enough to hold with one wall gone, and the entire building began to shake.

"Ooohh crap."

"Peter, what's happening?" Captain America's question went unanswered, as Peter tried to get out before the mall crumbled.

He swung as fast as he could, pushing his muscles for more speed, but the nasty smelling alien didn't want him to leave so soon, and Peter was tackled to the ground, smashing into a pillar.

Shouts of concern echoed through his coms, and Peters world went black to the smell of rotting meat.

…

Tony could hear the building start to crumble, from the coms, it was that loud; and he immediately flew over to where his protege had gone.

The last thing Peter had said, before his coms had shut off, was 'oh crap.' which, admittedly, Tony heard a lot, but was not reassuring.

Steve ran through the street below Tony, and he quickly dipped in his flight pattern to pick him up and carry the soldier with him as he flew to Peter.

"Was that a building I heard coming down?"

Tony didn't want to think about Peter being crushed, but nodded anyway. "Yep."

Rhodey's voice came next, through the coms, high and out of breath. "And was he in there?"

Tony flew faster. "Most likely."

He could see the building now, smoking in the midst of the giant dust cloud it had produced. It was a mess, and Tony's heart sped up as he searched the rubble. "Peter! Answer me! Where are you?"

The longer he went without receiving an answer, the more worried he became. Tony placed Steve on the ground as soon as they reached the wreckage, speaking to Friday with a voice that was getting more difficult to keep steady.

"Friday, get the com's back up. Give me his vitals, is he…?"

Charts, and figures appeared in hs vision, as Cap took his shoulder. "We'll find him,Tony."

Tony flicked through the display of vitals, only slightly reassured, by the slow pulse, and low oxygen saturation levels, before another voice came through. It was small, and laced with pain, but it was just the one he wanted to hear.

"I'm...ugh, ow...I'm okay."

Tony didn't like the sound of his voice, it was strained before it broke off with a harsh cough, followed by a groan of pain.

Tony looked through the vitals and information being sent to him from the suit, but the sensors were slightly damaged and it wouldn't show him what was wrong with Peter.

Steve was looking around the rubble, trying to find some way in. "You don't sound okay. What happened?"

Peter groaned again, breath shaking as he fought off tears. It was hard to breathe, which made talking difficult, but having the others voices to ground him helped keep his panic at bay, for the moment.

"Um...I was f-fighting two of those alien blobby cats, and the building came down on top of us."

It was dark, where Peter was, and he couldn't see much from where he lay, but he knew from the sound of his voice echoing, that he probably had a decent sized space to work with. The suits eyes adjusted, allowing him to see better in the dark, and he found he was right. He was in what used to be a food court, in the middle of the mall, which had mostly been saved from the collapse. However, he was trapped inside, with all exists blocked by rubble.

It wasn't a great situation but at least he wasn't crushed like the last time a building came down on him.

Rhodey's smooth voice came through the comms, and it made Peter feel a little better. The Avengers were there, they'd help him; it was going to be okay.

"We'll get you out, Sider-Man. Are the aliens still with you?"

Well, crap. Peter hadn't even thought about that. He looked around, blinking through the dust and smoke in the air. It was hard to see anything in the dim space, but he remembered the beast tackling him as the building came down, and he remembered smashing into a pillar.

"I can't see it, I don't know if it survived the-" There was a piece of rebar or something sticking up from the ground, arching over his shoulder, and curving right near his face. It was more than a little annoying, and prevented him from turning his head to that side.

Tony's voice came to his ear, breathless with concern. "Are you hurt?"

Peter didn't answer, he was too distracted by the thing curling over his shoulder, because it looked really weird. He brought a hand up to try and investigate, but as soon as his suit-covered fingers touched the object, he froze.

It was wet, and sticky, it also smelt terrible. But the worst part, was that he could feel it not just with his fingers.

Peter held his breath, as he turned his head to try and look at it properly. "Mr Stark? I th-think I'm going to need some help."

It wasn't a piece of rebar at all. It was one of the aliens claws, and it was impaled right through Peters shoulder, and into the ground. He was stuck.

Tony sounded as though he was edging towards panic. He didn't like being cut off from Peter when he was hurt, and he knew that he was.

"What's wrong? Karen isn't giving me any injury reports, you're going to have to tell me."

Now that Peter knew what was in his shoulder, it had started to hurt. Like, really hurt. He didn't like being trapped, and now that he was alone, and injured, he was getting scared.

His voice shook, as he turned his head away from the claw.

"K-Karen? Full report, p-please."

Her cheerful voice was quieter, and more concerned than usual, but Peter liked hearing her voice in his ear. It made him feel like he was less alone.

"You have sustained a moderate concussion, two cracked ribs, multiple split lacerations on your left leg, as well as a sprained ankle, and it appears you have been impaled on something. It's torn through your shoulder. You are rapidly losing blood, and should seek medical attention immediately."

Peter could hear Tony curse softly, which didn't make him feel any better at all.

Steve spoke, before Tony could. "Everything's going to be okay, Peter. We'll get you out, and we'll take you to Bruce, so that he can patch you up. It'll be alright, you just need to stay calm and do exactly what I say. I need you to...and…pressu...bre...ut-"

The coms were cutting in and out, static hissing and popping in Peters ear, and he couldn't help but panic a little more.

"Steve? I can't hear you! Tony? Please, c-come back!"

The static faded, as Karen turned the noise off; her voice was soft, and the only reassurance that Peter had left. "I am unable to receive comms, but I will continue to try and send signals out. It must be the rubble, and the damage to your suit that's disrupting the signal. It's alright, Peter. I'm still here with you, you aren't alone."

Peter knew that, despite Karen's kind words, he actually was alone. She was just an AI; she couldn't do much to help. But he liked hearing her voice anyway, and he sniffed, trying to hold in his tears.

"Thanks, Karen. You're the...ugh...you're the best." Talking hurt, but it was also Peter's way of keeping himself calm.

"What do I do? What was Cap saying I should do, before it cut out?"

Karen hummed, searching for an answer. "I couldn't catch what he was saying, but I think it would be best to stop the bleeding in your shoulder. If you don't stop it soon, you'll go into shock."

Okay, they had a plan. That made Peter feel a little better.

His hurt...well, everything, made it difficult to move, but he carefully lifted his good arm to fire a compression web around the claw in his shoulder. It hurt like a word that Peter wasn't allowed to say, and he bit off a groan before it could escape, as Karen urged him on.

"You're doing great. That should help stop the bleeding. Because of the suits damage, I cannot detect the degree of damage to your arm. Can you tell if there is any damage?"

Peter took in measured, shallow breaths as he blinked up to the crumbled ceiling above him. "I don't want to look at it."

Karen was patient. "You don't have to, in fact it is advisable that you do not move, until medical help is available. Just tell me is there is any sensation in your arm, or anything unusual happening."

Peter frowned a little, nose scrunching up in confusion. Aunt May always said he was adorable when he did that.

"Unusual how?"

Karen's objective was to keep Peter calm, but it was rather important that he knew of the dangers the alien claw presented. "We don't know much about these foreign creatures, so it is wise to be careful where you can. Alien bacteria could be present on the claw, or poison, or it could have hit something in your shoulder and-"

Peter cut her off before she could send him into a panic.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Anything unusual."

Peter tried to concentrate on what he could feel, which was difficult when most of what he felt was pain and fear.

"It just hurts really bad, and...I…" His breathing began to pick up speed, then, because-

"I can't move my fingers. I can't move my hand. Karen is this-!"

The AI's voice was smooth and calm, settling Peters racing heart, into a more acceptable rhythm, even as tears escaped his bright eyes. "The claw may have damaged some nerves. But it will be alright, Peter. Bruce can fix anything, and you have super healing to help, don't you? You will be okay, but I need you to remain calm. The Avengers, are doing everything they can to get you out of here. They are working right now."

He sniffed, as he tried to stop from crying, his voice small and wet. "How do you know? We can't hear them."

She sounded as if she were smiling, although Peter knew she couldn't, and it made her voice sunnier, and more reassuring. "Because they care about you, and I know they will do everything they can to help you, just like they always do."

Peter sniffed again, blinking his tears away. "You're right. They'll come find me."

….

Tony almost threw up, when the coms disconnected. Peters cries of terror broke his heart, as Steve looked towards Tony. "He can't hear me!"

"It must be the tightly compacted rubble, blocking the signal. Peters suit would have taken some damage too, if he was hit by any of it when it came down, and judging by his list of injuries, he was. We have to get him out."

Rhodey flew above the building, scanning the mess of rock and metal. "We can't risk moving anything. It could come right down on top of him."

Steve listened to Karen reassuring Peter, taking in the knowledge that Peter was okay for the moment, and using it to focus. "We could dig in from another angle. Try the west entrance, and get in from there. At least if it crumbles, it's far enough away from Peter that it won't collapse the whole building."

"Except that it could." Tony was about ready to rip out his hair. "Don't touch anything until I scan it all and find the best entry point."

He knew Peter couldn't hear him, but couldn't help but speak to him anyway; as a way to reassure himself. "We're coming, kid. We'll get you out."

….

Peter was trying to kick the rocks off him, wincing as the cuts on his legs protested. "How deep are those?"

"They are split lacerations, caused by blunt force trauma. They don't appear to be too deep, but I would advise using compression webs on them all."

That was a good idea, although it hurt to do it, because Peter had to lift his legs up in order to see and reach them. He was about to grit his teeth and try it, when something rumbled. Something big, and heavy.

"Umm...Karen? What was that?"

Peter suddenly realised he hadn't checked to see what had happened to the alien, after the building came down. The AI sounded nervous.

"That would be the creature, waking up."

Peter turned his head as much as he could, searching for the thing, from where the sound was coming from. He could hear it groan and mewl in pain as it woke, and he quickly began to panic. He called out for the Avengers through his coms, knowing that Karen was still trying to get a signal out.

"If you guys can hear me, please get me out soon! The aliens awake!"

He could see part of the alien out of the corner of his eye now, and it was trying to get to its feet, rumbling and panting as it got angrier. Peter knew that if it wanted to fight him, he'd have to fight back, although he didn't know how long he'd last with his injuries.

"Karen, how am I supposed to fight this thing with one arm? I can't even move!"

He didn't have time to wait for her answer, as the thing spotted him, and huffed in rage. It lifted its injured paw in front of it, to show him the bloody gash, where its claw was torn out, as if to say 'look what you did'.

Peter tried to think of something, as he selected a new web type. "You're the one that tackled me! If you hadn't stabbed me with it, it wouldn't have come out!"

The alien blobby cat did not agree, and shook its head out, as its purple shimmery ears flickered in anger.

Peter let out a scream, as the creature charged at him, its huge mass shaking the ground with each step. With his shoulder pinned, and his webs useless against it's slimy skin, he did the only thing he could, and kicked it with all his strength.

The thing was so heavy, Peter let out a grunt from the effort it took to kick the thing away. It's teeth were inches away from the hero's face before he launched it across the dim room, but it's paws were quick, and caught Peter across the face.

He cried out in pain, as he felt shallow slices open across his cheek, blood seeping from them as they stung. The blobbycat- Peter supposed he should name it since it was probably going to kill him- slid across the dusty ground, before recovering, and rolling back onto its feet. It bared it's long teeth, as it hissed at him, slime dripping from it, as it got prepared to charge again.

Karen spoke up, as Peter felt adrenaline flood through him. He was thankful for the kick of energy, and dulling of the pain, since he had just kicked an alien with his sprained ankle, and knew it would hurt like a very angry female dog later.

"Use your webs to throw debris at it!"

"Thanks, Karen!"

He did just that, using his webs to fling rocks and rubble right at the blobbycats face. Although it seemed to only make the thing angrier, as it swiped the rocks out of the air with its giant paws. It growled at him, blinking its three eyes, that glowed bright orange in the dim space.

"This isn't working! It's skins too slippery and thick!"

Karen was quiet for a moment, as she scanned the creature for any weaknesses, but she could only find one.

"Its claws should be sharp and strong enough to pierce through."

The cat roared, stomping, as Peter hit one of its eyes with a rock. "How am I supposed to get it to stab itself?!" And then he realised.

"No. No, I can't take it out!"

Karen didn't sound happy about it either. "It is not advisable to remove it, but I cannot see any other options. I don't know when the Avengers will be able to get in. This may be your only chance."

Peter hated to even think of touching the claw, but Karen was right. He couldn't hold the thing off forever, and the Avengers might not even be able to get through the mess of collapsed building to help him. He would have to do it on his won, and he couldn't fight if he was pinned to the ground.

"Okay. Okay, fine, I'll do it."

The thing about pulling something from your shoulder, was that everything in you tells you to stop. The pain and panic alone, is enough to make you want to vomit, and cry, and pass out all at once. But he had to do it.

Peter flung one last projectile, at the creature, right at its biggest eye. It roared again, rubbing it's paws over its face, and mewling in pain. It wouldn't give Peter much time, but even mere seconds could be useful.

Peter grit his teeth, gripped the claw, and pulled. He couldn't hold back his scream of agony, as he felt it sliding through his shoulder. It hurt so badly, it was as if everything melted away, leaving only pain, and the dizziness in Peter's head.

Blood poured over his chest, when it was out, and the teenager was left panting and sobbing, eyes threatening to roll back into his head.

Karen's voice was warped, and fuzzy to Peters ears, but he didn't think it was because of the suit. "Peter, you need to stay awake! The creature is about to attack again!"

Peter knew that he had to hurry, but his body was made of lead, and his fingers were clumsy, and slippery with blood.

Huge, thunderous, footsteps shook the ground, making the rest of the building around them groan dangerously, but it was enough to make Peter open his tired eyes and lift his good arm.

The blobbycat charged, and pounced on Peter, just as he raised his arm, with the claw clenched tightly in his shaking fist.

It pierced the creature right through the chest, erupting slime and orange blood everywhere as it screamed in agony.

Peter felt the weight of the body on top of him, growing heavier as it died, and Peter was so, so tired, but there was something else he had to do.

Adrenaline had made his heart race, but it was no longer dulling the pain as much as he would have liked, and he felt every pounding of his heart through the wound in his shoulder.

Peter was no longer concentrating on much, and Karen's voice was tuned out to white noise, as he attempted to push the alien off him.

"Peter, you shouldn't be moving."

He answered without thinking, shoving the heavy mass off of him, and trying to sit up.

"I have to get out. I have to find help."

His head spun, as he slowly made his way up, his bad arm dangling useless at his side. Blood poured down his suit, making it slippery and gross on the inside; and he clenched his teeth against his nausea.

He knew it would hurt to get up, but his mind was so focused on getting out of the dark, dusty, hell he was in, that it didn't stop him.

Every part of his body, every inch of bruised skin, urged him to stop, but he made his slow, aching way to his feet.

"You're ankle broke when you kicked the blobbycat. You will need to keep as much weight off it as you can."

Peter smiled a little, lifting his good hand to pick up a broken bar of metal from the ground, to use as a crutch. "Hey, you...you used the name...I gave it."

Karen's voice was soft, trying to make him feel better and focus on something other than the pain. "You have wonderful ideas, Peter. Follow that beam of light, the Avengers are working to get you out from that end. I am receiving their locations from their suits, but I still cannot connect to coms. I can't tell them you need help. Keep going, you're almost there."

Peter did his best, dragging his feet over rocks and broken bits of building, as he got dizzier with each step. He could hear them, shouting and talking to each other as they worked, as they pulled rocks out of the way and tried to dig him out. He stumbled forward and tried to call back to them, but his voice was weak, and their senses weren't as strong as his.

"Guys! Ton...Tony! I'm h-here! Help me, please. It hurts so...so bad. I don't know how long I can…" His words came out scratchy, and cracked, as tears threatened to dampen his voice. He was so close to getting out, so close to help, but he was so tired.

It was so hard to move, and he was shaking all over, he knew he wouldn't make it more than a few steps more.

But finally the dimness around him was flooded with light, as a wall came crumbling down. Tony and Steve were standing at the hole in the wall they'd made, and Peter blinked through the light, at them.

"Peter!"

They'd found him. He was safe. He could rest now.

Tony rushed forward, catching Peter as he crumpled to the ground, catching him and cradling him against his chest.

The kid was covered in blood, alien goo, and dirt. And his eyes were closed. "No, no, no! Come on, kid I just got you out. Don't give up on me now!"

Steve and Rhodey rushed over, as Tony lifted his face plate to get a better look at the teenager in his arms. His breathing was laboured and noisy, his chest rising and falling too fast and too shallow for Tony's liking.

"He's in bad shape, Tony. He doesn't have time to wait for medics." Rhodey was right. Tony pulled the kid to his chest, carefully holding him so that Peters head could rest on his shoulder as he carried him.

"I'll fly him to the compound. You guys take care of the rest of this mess."

He didn't wait for their reply as his mask came back down, and he flew home, praying that Peter would be okay.

…

It was a mess of noise and rushed hands, when Tony got Peter to the med bay. Bruce and his medical team swarmed over their patient, pressing gauze to wounds, tearing off his suit, and placing an oxygen mask over Peters dirt streaked face.

Tony could only watch in shock as they worked, calling things out to each other across Peters limp, vulnerable form.

"Blood pressures way too low. He's still losing too much blood."

"I've got multiple broken ribs here, and his breathings all kinds of wrong. I'm going to need a chest x-ray, and an ultrasound."

Bruce started pushing the bed into the hall. "Get him into theatre, I need to fix this shoulder before he bleeds out."

His face was set in concentration, but it softened as soon as he took the teenagers hand in his, and brushing Peters hair back. "You'll be okay, Peter. You're safe now."

Tony was frozen to the spot, unable to follow, and unable to tear his eyes away from the limp, dying teenager in the bed. And then he was gone, whisked away into surgery, and Tony was left to wait.

….

Peter woke to muted pain, and a familiar voice. He felt heavy and slow, and rolled his bowling ball head, to where the voice was coming from.

"-riously impressed. We all watched the footage from your suit, that Karen recorded. I'm sorry you had to go through that alone. And, also that I named it the baby monitor protocol. We can change that when you're awake."

Peter let out a sigh, exhausted even though he was just waking up; and let a name slip past his lips. "Tony."

Peter only realised the warm touch on his skin, when it stopped, pausing in it's movements. "Peter? You back with me?"

Peters head hurt, as well as the rest of him, but it was more of an ache. A bad ache, but at least it wasn't the screaming agony he remembered from before.

"Hmm…" His face scrunched up into a frown of pain, and irritation, and Tony let out a small laugh.

"I'll take that as a partial yes. How do you feel?"

That nice warm feeling came back, and Peter opened his eyes to see that it was Tony, gently wiping a warm washcloth over Peters neck.

"Not good. I broke the building. It was an accident."

Tony smiled, washing away the dirt and blood from Peters skin, and wringing out the cloth in a basin next to the bed. "I know, its okay. It wasn't your fault. You did a good job with that alien, I'm just sorry you had to do it alone."

Peter stopped himself from shrugging, deciding at the last moment that it wouldn't be a good idea, and bounced his eyebrows instead, as a sort of...face shrug?

"I knew you were trying to get to me. It's okay."

Tony sighed, lifting Peters good hand, and carefully pulling the washcloth along the skin, from his neck, down his shoulder, along the inside of his arm, right down to his fingertips, where he gently massaged each one with the cloth.

"I should have gotten in quicker." He shook his head a little, and sucked in a breath, seeming to shake off his bad thoughts. "Anyway, all that matters now is that you're okay. Bruce fixed you all up, and you'll be back to normal in no time."

Peter had almost forgotten. He looked down at his bad arm, noting the bandages wrapped tightly around where the claw had stabbed through. He hadn't been able to move his fingers before, but Tony had said Bruce had fixed everything so did that mean…?

Tony noticed him staring at his pale, curled fingers, and intervened before he could do something stupid. "Don't go trying to do anything with that, just yet. You'll only make it hurt, more."

But Peter needed to know. "I couldn't move my fingers, Karen said there could have been nerve damage."

Tony nodded, moving the washcloth over Peters chest, while carefully avoiding the wires attached to it.

"There was a lot of damage, and if you didn't have enhanced healing, it likely would have stayed that way. Bruce is really good at what he does, like, really good; but that was a little hard even for him. He brought in some help, and it's all fixed now."

Peter looked back to his injured shoulder. It was such a mess, it was hard to believe anyone could have fixed it. "Really?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, he's an expert in that sort of thing. He's also a wizard or something. I don't know, I didn't really ask a lot of questions."

Peter felt tears prick his eyes. "I thought I'd never be able to use it again. I thought...thank you."

Tony pulled the cloth up to Peters face, wiping the soft material over the kids cheeks and forehead as he smiled, using his other hand to brush Peters hair back.

"I'd never let that happen to you. You've had a rough day, and you have a lot of healing to do. Go to sleep, buddy."

Rough day, was an understatement, but Peter agreed with the sentiment. He could do with a month long nap, and some down time with his best friend, but for now he had Tony to make him feel better.

His eyes were already closing, when he reached out to find Tony's hand, squeezing his fingers with a sigh. "Thanks for always saving me, Mr Stark."

His eyes closed, and although he couldn't see Tony's smile, he could hear it in his voice. "Anytime, Spider-Man."


End file.
